URBRUM Magazine issue 2

30 Loving Life, loving my job
By Author: Jessica Key, By Assistant Editor: Chanelle Yearwood
Living life loving my job
I’m loving life and loving my job. I have
been working at Birmingham Mind for
nearly 2 months now and have managed
to marry my two passions; caring for people
and being creative.
It hasn’t been easy and I know all too well
how hard living life can be when you have
no job, no income and bills to pay. But
staying positive and finding things to do
to keep myself active and interested was
essential in getting to where I am now.
Studying Fine Art at Birmingham City University
allowed me the freedom to express
myself creatively and I soon found that
creating short films was what I was good
at. I made loads of films throughout my
three years at Uni. My subject matter took
inspiration from my personal life experience
and themes of failure and artistic
reputation.
I enjoyed filming the actions of lifting and
dragging people, coping and recreating
the form of Jesus in Baroque paintings.
I saw the shape of Jesus as he was being
lifted on or off the cross as one that symbolised
many things to me such as loss,
freedom, failure, release and many more.
During my time at Uni I worked as a
support worker, note taking and generally
supporting students in their studies.
This work experience has proved invaluable
in my current job role and kept me
going whilst looking for a full time permanent
job. I found the time between leaving
university and starting my job at Birmingham
Mind difficult.
I reacted in a negative way initially as I
felt powerless and that I would never get
a job, but I realised that I was not alone
and shared my worries with friends in the
same situation, and talked to wise family
members.
One of the benefits of re-writing so many
CV’s was that I could clearly identify my
skill areas, and the interviews, although
not always successful, meant I could
confidently verbalise my strengths and
experience.
Finally starting full time work was a massive
relief. I even facilitate an art class in
which I can indulge in my love of art, as
well as share the art of thinking creatively.
I strongly believe that thinking creatively
can open endless possibilities and fill a
soul with energy.
The art class are currently learning how
to develop their ability visualise in their
‘mind’s eye,’ thinking about the colours of
the rainbow initially and then developing
on the ideas and feelings certain colours
give them.
We will consider the significance of prominent
colours each week to see if they
reflect mood. Using colour as a starting
point for inspiration the class are also developing
the technical skill of watercolour
painting.
URBRUM issue (2) - URBRUM.ORG